TODAY´S NEWS

Government decision on FDI in print boost media stocks

The government decision provided a boost to the print media stocks yesterday on the BSE. Major players like Mid-Day Multimedia, Tata Infomedia, Sandesh, Navneet Publication and Macmillan Industries saw their shares hitting the upper circuit..

Mid-Day Multimedia hit the 20 per cent upper circuit to close the day at Rs 31.25. A total of 8.08 lakh shares changed hands at the BSE yesterday.

Tata Infomedia which has business interest in Yellow pages, special interest publications, direct marketing, corporate gifting and children books was also up 18 per cent to Rs 126.80, while Sandesh, the Gujarat based news daily gained 10 per cent to Rs 122.10, Navneet Publication, a publisher of educational books leapt 11.72 per cent to Rs 194.90 and Macmillan Industries jumped up 8.37 per cent to Rs 250.90.

The Kotak Mahindra Finance (KMFL) stock was also up in afternoon trades on the back of the cabinet news. The stock was up 10.42 per cent to close the day at Rs 166.85

According to analysts the move is definitely a positive for the overall sector, which is reflected in the rise in print media scrips yesterday. According to media analyst, the move so far had been fiercely opposed by many of India's powerful media barons who did not want any foreign competition, but the advent of the Internet and other communication changes had altered the publishing landscape. Some newspapers had complained the ban on foreign investment was denying them access to new sources of funding to upgrade their products.